Group holds pre-inaugural ‘gun day’

Calling for a “Gun Appreciation Day” two days before President Barack Obama’s Inauguration, gun rights activists are urging gun owners to turn “out en masse at gun stores, ranges and shows from coast to coast” on Jan. 19.

A review of the Obama administration’s record on guns, in a roundup by the Business Insider, details major pro-gun initiatives the president has enacted in his first term — including allowing loaded firearms in national parks and on Amtrak passengers’ checked baggage. Those positions prompted the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to give the president a “F” on its scorecard in 2010.

Readers' Comments (15)

THESE PEOPLE ARE LOONS OF THE FIRST ORDER. tHE PROBLEM WITH THIS COUNTRY IS THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY GUNS IN THE HANDS OF TOO FEW PEOPLE WITH ANY KIND OF RATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

IT IS AMAZING IN THE WAKE OF 9-11 EVERY WAS READY TO "BEND OVER" AND TAKE ALL OF ABUSES THAT BUSH, CHENEY AND RUMSFIELD PERPETRATED ON OUR FIRST AMENDMENT PRIVACY RIGHTS, BUT ANY MENTION OF RESTRICTING GUNS BECOMES A CAUSE CELBRE.

A couple of million unarmed patriots surrounding the White House on Innaguration Day would be a MUCH better show.Either that or a couple of million surrounding the Senate Chamber on the day that gun control legislation is introduced--Unarmed and peacefully of course.A stark contrast from what the unions do in Michigan and Wisconsin,.but we will just have to restrain them because LOTS of union people own guns and they WON'T be supporting Feinstein.

All this does is show HOW insane the gun nuts are, and further makes the case for keeping weapons out of the hands of these obsessed crazies. Me, I'm for spending more tax dollars on hiring and training more COPS, not these Wyatt-Earp wannabees and their fantasies of Wild West shootouts with Bad Guys.

Right you are--" There was an assault on Sandy Hook ,but it wasn't on gun owners" It was on defenseless wowen and children in an area where guns weren't allowed. Had it not been a "gun free zone" the "assault" would have been either minimal or would have probably not happened at all.You never heard of a mass shooting at a Texas school after the "Texas Tower" incident,many decades ago.In that case,the citizens pinned down the shooter with their deer rifles until the police could get there and finish him off,otherwise many more would have been killed.

I'm so sick of living with people that keep us the country of stupid. Own a 1000 pistols and rifles if you want to. But bullets that tear the arms off of children and high velocity military type weapons are just not needed. Your right to have your fun at the target range does not cancel commen sense right of society to protect itself from easy mass killings. Get a grip. And the argument that "well there are so many out there already there is no reason to stop thousands more from being produced and sold" is really lame.

Young mother uses gun to save her family from a home invasion. This puts a new twist on the wisdom of the U.S. Constitution and the right of self defense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A man in San Francisco threw gasoline on his girlfriend and burned her, the banning of gasoline was not addressed. However, the girlfriend was unarmed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FBI study states that hammers are used in nearly twice the number of murders in the U.S.A. but there is not a ban on hammers.

I am a member of the NRA. I am sure that I am going to get a lot of negative comments about this. But the Constitution is the Supreme law of the land. Now I am understanding that a lot of people that are against firearms, don't own them and really don't know anything about them. So I am going to take a moment to educate you because I think it's important that you understand. These weapons that you are being spoon fed are "assault weapons" is a complete farce. There is a difference between a military rifle vs. a civilian rifle. Military use fully automatic or 3 round burst, civilian models do not have that option. And also for the record on AR-15's. The AR does not mean Assault Rifle. It means Armalite Rifle. So let's take a look at some of the facts here.

The most common firearm used in crime is a .38 special revolver. It can be a double action revolver, which means that every time you pull the trigger, it fires. Just like a semi-automatic. So there isn't much of a difference between the two. There are "speed-loaders" for revolvers that can reload a revolver in 2 seconds. Not enough time to rush the person that is attacking you.

The biggest school massacre in U.S. history was in Bath Township in Michigan in 1927. Forty-five people were killed, including 38 elementary students, and 58 injured in three bombings by a school board treasurer enraged by higher taxes in the deadliest act of violence at a U.S. school. This was not done by an assault weapon. As a matter of fact only one shot was fired...at a bomb that he had in the bed of his truck.

Austin, Texas 1966. Killed 16 people and injured 32 more from a bolt action rifle. It wasn't a semi-automatic. More would have been killed or injured if not for the civilians firing back at him, to pin him down until police could get to the shooter.

Columbine High School, 1999. 12 students and 1 teacher killed and 20 injured. This was done during the Clinton gun ban. No "assault weapon" was used.

Let's not forget Lee Harvey Oswald. Got off 4 shots in under 6 seconds, 2 of them head shots when he killed President Kennedy. Again from a bolt action rifle. Not an "assault weapon".

There are over 2.5 million crimes prevented each year by a person defending themselves with a firearm. Recently in Houston Texas, I child of 15 years old used his father's (who is a police officer) AR-15 to protect himself and his 12 year old sister from 2 males that broke into their house. Same week a man in San Antonio, killed his ex-girlfriend and 2 of her friends in an apartment. He then went down the street to a movie theater and started shooting. A woman pulled out her pistol and killed the shooter. Folks don't let the government tell you what is and is not an "assault weapon". They don't have a clue. And Sen. Feinstein? She has a concealed carry permit and has carried her pistol in the past. She wants to take all guns, not some, but all.

There is also a use for those Bushmasters. I have friends that hunt deer with those. They are light, easy to carry, and accurate. I use them when hog hunting. You hunt hog at night. A pack of hogs can eat a 220 lbs man in under 6 minutes. It is dangerous to hunt them and they are a nuisance and cause more than $1.5 Billion in damage every year. Their population is rising faster than we can stop them. Please learn the facts before making knee-jerk reactions.

Well here is something for you to contemplate. You may not believe in God, that is your choice. You may not like guns, that is your right. But when an intruder breaks in your door, to do you and your family harm, you are going to do two things. One, you are going to call someone that has a gun. Two, you are going to pray that they get there in time. Now you may say that I'm paranoid. Actually I'm not afraid at all, because I have the means to defend myself and my family. A typical call to 911 takes 26 minutes for a Police Officer to reach you. The average speed of a .357 bullet is 1700 feet per second. You go ahead and wait, I'll take care of my family.

Had it not been a "gun free zone" the "assault" would have been either minimal or would have probably not happened at all.

Haha, nice point. I'm sure if the Army wouldjust allowed some guns at Fort Hood then Nidal Hassan would never have been able to kill those 13 people. It has nothing to do with the fact that mentally ill are allowed to possess these weapons of mass destruction (yes, in a movie theater or school setting an AR15 is a WMD).

In fact, before we pass this new legislation to take away the most unnecessary guns in your collection, you should probably take the opportunity to move to a libertarian bastion like Somolia or Afghanistan. I guarantee you there are no "gun free zones" there, and even no federal government to take your tax money.

Dstegesaurus - Well lets take a look at this one. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people, killed 19 children under age 6, and injured over 680 others. But you can still buy fertilizer, racing fuel, and rent box trucks. And just so you know, because I can tell that you have never served in the military before, they are gun free zones. Only Military Police carry weapons while on base. But just keep on making comments that you obviously know nothing about. But keep trying to make an invalid point.

One other point that I should make. Do you know why the Japanese never attacked the U.S. Mainland? Because Admiral Yamamoto stated "I will not attack the mainland. There would be a gun behind every blade of grass." Now think about that for a minute. Did you know that if you took the hunters of Wisconsin (600,000), Pennsylvania (750,000), Michigan (700,000), and West Virginia (250,000) alone they would be the largest army in the world? Now throw in the rest of the 46 states and it equates to millions more. A lot of those hunters served in the military, so they are trained. Under 100 people die during the year in hunting accidents. In Chicago alone you have 532 murders by gun violence and they have the strictest laws regarding guns. So I believe that not only should hunting and firearm safety be applauded, it is necessary for national security. Oh, and let's not forget that because we are an armed civilization, we can also make sure that the government doesn't infringe upon our rights. The 2nd Amendment guarantees all other amendments will not be infringed.